Tolerance in California

The Constitutional Bicentennial we are about to celebrate doesn't just mark the anniversary of a great document. It also marks the anniversary of a great social experiment.

For 200 years this nation has offered a haven to those seeking political and religious freedom. And most of the time that hospitality has worked to the benefit of both refugees and those who were already here.

Unfortunately that openness has sometimes been marred by intolerance. It happened again recently in Los Angeles.

Two Central American refugee women were kidnaped, one raped. Both were grilled about their political activities and warned to stop. Another Salvadoran woman received telephone death threats.

The Rev. Luis Olivares, pastor of Our Lady Queen of Angeles Church, was sent a letter similar to those threatening the lives of priests in El Salvador.

As a result, the Los Angeles police and FBI are investigating the possibility of Salvadoran death squads on our city streets--political persecution creeping across our border.

In other neighborhoods a different kind of intolerance appeared. Since Jan. 1, nearly 20 incidents of anti-Semitic vandalism have been reported.

In one 24-hour period, Temple Beth Hillel, Shaarey Zedek and North Hollywood Chabad were all desecrated. A few weeks earlier the West Valley Jewish Community Center was defaced.